1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly to a refrigerator capable of easily moving a shelf mounted to a storage chamber without separation of the shelf.
2. Background
Generally, a refrigerator is an appliance for storing food, etc. within a storage chamber in a frozen or refrigerated state by discharging, into the storage chamber, cold air generated through a refrigeration cycle constituted by a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, an evaporator, etc. Such a refrigerator generally includes a freezing compartment for storing food or beverages in a frozen state, and a refrigerating compartment for storing food or beverages at low temperature. A Kimchi refrigerator, which stores food such as Kimchi or vegetables in a fresh state, is another form of refrigerator.
At least one of plural doors installed at a refrigerator is connected to one side of a body by a hinge, to open or close a front side of the body through pivotal movement thereof. In addition to such a door, which pivots about a hinge, a drawer type door may also be employed. The drawer type door includes a drawer, and a door mounted to a front side of the drawer, to be withdrawn or retracted in a forward or rearward direction, together with the drawer.
Generally, storage compartments of a refrigerator, namely, freezing and refrigerating compartments, are provided with a plurality of shelves to vertically divide the freezing and refrigerating compartments into sections, in order to store food articles having various sizes and to enhance space utilization. Since food articles to be placed on such shelves may have various sizes, the shelves are separably mounted at different levels in the freezing and refrigerating compartments while being movable to adjust mounting levels thereof.
Mounting of the shelves may be achieved by slidably mounting the shelves to a plurality of support ribs formed at left and right surfaces of the refrigerating and freezing compartments, or coupling a pair of cantilevers coupled to each shelf, and then mounting the cantilevers to mounting rails each formed with a plurality of vertically arranged holes.
In accordance with such related art, however, level adjustment of shelves may be difficult and troublesome because, when it is desired to adjust mounting level of a shelf, the user has to separate the shelf from the support ribs or mounting rails after completely removing food articles from the shelf, and then to mount the separated shelf to another level.
In this regard, the applicant proposed a structure capable of adjusting the level of a shelf while food is placed thereon, as disclosed in Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-2006-0040290. However, the disclosed conventional structure has a problem in that, when it is desired to adjust the level of a shelf, the user has to move the shelf along an inclined guide slot in forward and rearward directions by a long distance. Furthermore, the shelf should be moved between an initial position and a final position by a considerable distance. In addition, there may be a danger in that, when the shelf is used under a condition that the shelf is disposed at an upper position thereof, and food articles are placed on the shelf, the shelf may be moved to a lower position thereof along the guide slot.